Hoping for a happier year outdoors

I'm sorry to write that 2017 has not been a particularly good year for the great outdoors.

From slaughtering mountain goats in Olympic National Park to shrinking national monuments owned by you and me, Stinky and the Dumpster are disrespecting one of the principles that define our country. The wild places of America and the flora and fauna therein are in serious jeopardy from these two.

Yet this pair of Bozos is only the human contingent that treated our wild, primitive country like garbage during the year now past. Mother Nature — though many would argue mankind is more responsible — did a particularly nasty number on Northwest wilderness in 2017.

In August and September, dry weather some say was intensified by human-influenced climate change created perfect conditions for wildfire. Nature obliged with lightning storms that burned more than a half-million acres in Washington and Oregon, although a thoughtless teenager torched the more than 31,000-acre Eagle Creek Fire.

Perhaps you remember that blaze, which closed portions of Interstate Highway 84 and made blackened matchsticks of the splendid emerald forests of the Columbia River Gorge. Or maybe you are more familiar with the choking smoke that clogged Puget Sound from wildfires including the 45,000-acre Norse Peak Fire, which closed Chinook Pass and Crystal Mountain Ski Resort.

The wildfires in Oregon and Washington caused Pacific Crest Trail thru hikers to scramble to find trails around the blazes. While camped near White Pass last fall, B.B. Hardbody and I transported a couple of PCT hikers in Packwood back to the pass so they could detour fire-threatened trails.

Assuming legal challenges are rejected, the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments will be slashed by at least half, and if the Dumpster has his way, as much as 85 percent. I think what the Dumpster and Stinky are doing is nothing more than stealing land that belongs to you and me.

But wait, there's more: under the avalanche of paper that is the Republican tax "plan," friends of the wild places found a measure that will allow oil drilling and exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Said the Dumpster: "We're going to start drilling in one of the largest oil reserves in the world that for 40 years this country was unable to touch." I don't know about you, but I'm not doing cartwheels of joy about that.

Closer to home, you'll be paying nearly triple the current $25 to visit Olympic or Mount Rainier National Parks in 2018 if Stinky's proposal to raise entry fees survives public outcry. The entry fee will be $70 at Olympic and Rainier and 14 other national parks.

Those of you who turned 62 after Aug. 28 have a special reason to mourn 2017. You now pay 700 percent more for your America the Beautiful Pass, which cost $10 the day before — but hey, it's still a good deal.

I'll also remember the year now past as the one Olympic National Park finally figured out a way to kill those pesky mountain goats. Hikers and mountaineers can look forward to portions of their park being closed so rangers can blast away.

Here's hoping 2018 is happier for all who love the outdoors.

Seabury Blair Jr. is the author of Backcountry Ski! Washington, and six hiking guides, including Day Hike! Olympic Peninsula and the Creaky Knees guides to Washington and Oregon. E-mail Seabury at skiberry@hughes.net.